Sliding-door latch



6 X. CAVERNO & w. E. FOWLER.

SLIDING DOOR LATCH.

, No. 565,428. Patented Aug. 11, 1896.

. 1 Milne 5 5E5 Invantur s UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

XENOPHON OAVERNO AND XVILLIAM E. FOWLER, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

SLIDING-DOOR LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 565,428, dated August11, 1896.

Application filed January 25, 1893. Serial No. 459,704. (Model) To allwhom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, XENOPHON CAVERNO and WILLIAM E. FOWLER, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe andState of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Latch for SlidingDoors, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to an improved latch for sliding doors-moreespecially for box and baggage carsand the object of our invention is toprovide an automatic latch that shall be certain in its action, simpleand strong, and so placed as to be little liable to injury. The mannerin which we attain these objects is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a part of the side elevation of abox-car, including the doorway and door when closed. The door opens inthe direction shown by the arrow. Fig. 2 is detail section of the sideof the car, taken on the line a a, Fig. 1, looking toward and includingthe back edge of the door. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of Fig. 2, or asection of the side of the car and back of the door, taken on the line bb, Fig. 1. Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 show the case. Figs. 8, 9, and 10 showthe bolt. Figs. 11, 12, and 13 show an extension-piece for filling thespace between the back edge of the door when closed and the bolt. Figs.14:, 15, and 16 show a piece of sheet metal for closing the back of thecase. Figs. 17 and 18 show a wooden block for varying the length of theextension-piece. Figs. 19 and 20 show a U -bolt for fastening the caseto the door-post. Figs. 21 and 22 show a block to go between the caseand the doorpost to hold the case out, so that a tie-rod can passbetween the case and the post.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Our latch is composed, essentially, of two pieces, a case A (shown indetail in Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7) and a bolt 0. (Shown in detail in 8, 9,and 10.)

Fig. 4 is a section of the case on the line d d, Fig. 5; Fig. 5, asection on the line i i, Fig. 4; Fig. 6, the back or inner view, andFig. 7 the front or outer view, of the case.

The location and position of the latch can readily be seen from Figs. 1,2, and 3. The case Ais bolted to the'back face of the door- -end of thecase.

post G, "i. e., the face opposite the doorway, by means of the U-bolts UU, (shown in detail in Figs. 19 and 20,) the case thus lying between thesheathing H and the lining I,

the front or outer end fitting into a hole cut in the sheathing andcoming flush with its outer face.

E is a tie-rod running the full height of the car through the plate andside sill, where it is set in a groove in the door-post G, as itfrequently is, the face of the case is bolted up to the post G, wherethe tie-rod stands out from the back face of the post G, as shown in thedrawings, the wooden blocks F and F (shown in detail in Figs. 21 and 22)are placed between the case and the post, the legs of the U-bolts lyingin the grooves in the ends of the blocks.

The bolt-chamber h, that runs through the case, is inclined at such anangle that the bolt 0 slides down the incline until the taper of theback web of bolt 0 fits the taper in the lower This taper prevents thebolt from slipping out farther and holds it firmly in the position shownin Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The bolt in this position sticks out from the sideof the car, back of the door K, so that the door cannot be opened.

WVhen the door is to be opened, the bolt is pushed up into the case withone hand and the door is started back with the other. While 7 the dooris in front of the opening in the case,

the bolt slides along on the inner face of the door till the door isclosed, when it drops out behind the door, latching it in placeautomatically. Should the door stick, so that both hands are required tomove it, the bolt is pushed up into the case and back till it catches inthe notches tand t of the ease. The bolt is shown in this position bydotted lines in Fig. 3. The back edge of the door striking the curvedend of the bolt readily pushes it up, and the door slides unhindered asbefore, the end of the bolt resting against its inner face.

When the door is closed, the bolt is carried by the friction of the doorto the front of the case, so that it does not catch in the notches t andt, and the bolt falls behind the door as before; but in ordinaryconstruction the door will not reach back to the bolt when the latch isin the position shown. When this is the case, an extension-piece D(shown in detail in Figs. 11, 12, and 13) is bolted to the back of thedoor in the manner shown. To allow for a variation in the distance y,Fig. 3, between the back edge of the door K and the face of the bolt 0,the distance nis made less than the smallest value of J is a woodenblock, (shown in detail in Figs. 17 and 18,) its smaller end being outto fit the pocket m, Fig. 11. The larger end is then cut to a length.68, such that a: plus 1?. equals 1 It will be seen that this gives asurface flush with the inner face of the door, along which the boltslides and at the end of which it drops when the door is shut.

The sealing-strip with the lead seal T passes through the openings f andZ in the extension D, Figs. 11 and 12, and the bolt 0, Figs. 8, 9, and10, thus sealin g the door to the car. Figs. 14, 15, and 16 showa pieceof sheet-iron which slips into the dovetail slot 70 in the back end ofthe case A after the bolt has been inserted. The shorter end is turnedinward, so that it is held between the case A and the block F. Thebolt-chamber h is thus entirely inclosed, except on the outer face ofthe car where the bolt comes through.

The slot p, Fig. 12, in the extension-piece D allows the bolt whichpasses through it to be placed at a fixed distance from the back of thedoor for varying values of y.

lVhen the case is designed for cars having the tie-rod E outside thedoor-post, as shown, the blocks F and F may be dispensed with and lugscast onto the case to take their place. \Vhere doors are of a standardwidth,the block J may be dispensed with, 71, Figs. 3 and 11, being thedistance from the back of the door when closed to the face of the bolt.l/Ve recommend that the door be made so Wide that n is only long enoughto give a metallic bearingfor the face of the bolt and provide thesealing-hole f.

The case may be so formed as to be attached to the belt-rail, thelining, or the sheathing, or it may be set into a mortise in the doorpost. We consider the position shown and the method of fastening thebest. The case, bolt, and extension are of cast-iron in the formshown.The space they occupy is not available for other purposes, and they areso thoroughly protected from injury that they can be made large enoughto give the proper strength in common cast-iron. The sealing-hole Z,Figs. 8, 9, and 10, may be made large enough to take a padlock.

'VVhat we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

1. 'The combination with a sliding door of a latch having a bolt slidingin a case or guide attached to, or back of, the back post of thedoorway, the bolt being so inclined that the force of gravity causes itto press against the inner face of the door, when the door is open, andto extend out back of the back edge of the door when the door is closed,thus latching the door in its closed position.

2. The combination with a sliding door of an extension-piece attached tothe door to fill out the space between the back edge of the door, whenclosed, and the bolt of a latch attached to, or back of, the back postof the doorway.

XENOPHON OAVERNO. WVILLIAM E. FOWLER. Witnesses:

ROBT. BARBIE, RoBr. REYNOLDS.

